Open Badges are a flexible framework for issuing a digital credential to a student that acknowledges they have learned something or developed a particular skill. I believe Open Badges represent an exciting innovation in education, because with badges:
- Evidence of what the student did to earn a credential is embodied in the digital badge so that employers or future educators can see what the student actually knows how to do.
- The criteria for evaluating the students’ work is also embodied and linked in the metadata of the badge.
- Learning is disaggregated so that instead of credentialing a course, students receive credentials at the skill level. This is important because when we give a grade to a student for the course, we still do not know what they actually learned in that course since the grade represents an aggregated score.
- Students can learn from many teachers and many environments, but they do not receive credentialing for all of this learning. Badges allow students to learn from different instruction providers
Badgeschool Website
I have developed several collections of open badges/microcredentials, including the Badgeschool badges, utilized at Brigham Young University and other institutions. The badges and rubrics are available on Badgr. Tutorials to assist in earning these badges are available on the tutorials website. Many thanks to the graduate students and colleagues who have assisted in this effort! The framework guiding our development of Badgeschool badges is described in our TechTrends article.
Learning More About Open Badges
I frequently am asked how one can “get started” with open badges. Well, we have an article for you!
Getting Started with Open Badges. Published in IRRODL.
I have also authored a review of the most current (at the time) literature on this topic.
Badges Scholarship
Who cares about open badges? An examination of principals’ perceptions of the usefulness of teacher open badges in the United States. Published in Open Learning (2021).
Guardrails to constructing learning: The potential of open microcredentials to support inquiry-based learning. Published in TechTrends (2020).
Designing microlearning instruction for professional development through a competency-based approach. Published in TechTrends (2020).
Designing computational thinking and coding badges for early childhood educators. Published in TechTrends (2020).
Value of open badge microcredentials to employees, customers, and the organization: A case study. Published in IRRODL (2019).
Effectiveness of undergraduate instructional design assistants in scaling a teacher education open badge system. Published in Contemporary Issues in Technology in Education (2019).
Using open badges to certify practicing evaluators. Published in American Journal of Evaluation (2015).
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: Designing Open Badges for a Technology Integration Course. Published in TechTrends (2013).
The case for rigor in open badges. Published in Digital Badges in Education: Trends, Issues, and Cases.
Partnerships
If you are interested in partnering with us to develop or research badges, credentials, extended transcripts, or comprehensive learner records, please email me!
Presentations
The powerful potential of open badges and microcredentials. Invited presentation to Dallas County Community College.
Open Education 2015 @ Vancouver
AECT 2015
AEA 2014
AECT 2014/Utah ATD
AECT 2013
Open Education 2013 @ Park City, Utah